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Take a detour in Detour

This is the next post in a new series I call Small Towns, Tiny Towns. We all pass through some of these when we’re out driving in the countryside. Some readers may actually live in one. Often we just think of them as wide spots in the road. in the past many of them were thriving communities but today they are relegated to just a small dot on the map, if they are even marked. Most if not all of them residents that are proud of the town and do their best to keep its memory alive.

The next couple paragraphs are from the About page.

Small towns, even tiny towns fascinate me – the kind that could be called “wide spots in the Road”. Sometimes they will hardly show up on Google Maps, most of the time they will be villages that earn a dot or circle on maps. I have no schedule but I hope to make a posting at least monthly, but no promises. I will be roaming in Maryland, and surrounding states from time to time and just taking photos, roughly at random. There is a lot to see in nowhere’ville. I’ll be wandering around with no real destination in mind, and taking shots from odd points of view, not the typical tourist view. So get ready to see some different views.

Places that interest me include: Sykesville, Galesville, Chestertown, Queenstown, Stevenstown – all in Maryland, as well as some in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolina’s, and possibly Georgia. If you have a favorite you’d like to see please send me a comment and I’ll see if it fits into my travels.

This trip took me to Detour, Md. A Google search will only lead you to the Detour Winery and a UrbanDictornary entry that isn’t too flatteing, so I’m skipping that.

Yes, there is a community called Detour in Maryland. Detour is in western Carroll County. The eastern edge of the town us bordered by a single railroad track. Trains still pass through, but on a very irregular schedule. The two old warehouses are falling into decay.

There is one Deli, it’s the only place in town to get a bite to eat.

Yes, a Barn-Star

Hardly enough water to float a kayak.

Big Pipe Creek and Little Pipe Creek form the western border of downtown Detour. Downstream from the confluence of the two creeks, and off to the Monocacy River it’s known as the Double Pipe Creek. When I last visited the Double Pipe Creek Park very little water was flowing, and two kayak paddlers, after exploring for a possible put-in, turned and headed north to a lake in Pennsylvania that held plenty of water.

On the map downtown Detour looks like it’s about 1/10 mile square, but the surrounding countryside with colorful farms and at least one old mill.

in the countryside within a couple miles of downtown

Somehow I missed the winery that takes its name from the town. I won’t let that happen again.

Where will I head next? So far I’ve featured both Carroll and Frederick Counties in Maryland. Probably I’ll head more south and see what I can find. If you have any suggestions, leave them in a comment.